Research: Beyond IT Service Management

Jonathan Feldman07/01/13

Research: Beyond IT Service Management

There are two ways to look at an IT as a service model: as a well-intentioned but jargon- and bureaucracy-filled worldview or as a fully integrated, engaged and involved part of the company’s operations. You can guess which one we recommend, and it seems the 409 respondents to our InformationWeek 2013 Service-Oriented IT Survey agree.

Fully 83% say making IT more service-oriented, where IT at the larger organization is consumed, priced, evaluated and paid for on a service level, rather than on an overall technology architecture or capital asset level — the dreaded cost center model — is ­either a reality now (51%) or on the drawing board (32%). Other data points:

>> 35% are willing to compromise slightly on technical skills to get a candidate with the right soft skills — oral and written communication, customer service, emotional intelligence and conflict management

>> 12% are in full manual mode, lacking any automation or integration tools to resolve IT service management issues

In this report we:

>> Dig into IT’s new reality, exploring the downside of being perceived solely as a ser­vice provider.

>> Suggest a better plan: becoming a business partner and strategist.

Respondent breakdown: 33% have 5,000 or more employees; 24% are over 10,000. ­Education, healthcare and financial services are well-represented, and 41% are IT director/manager or IT executive management (C-level/VP) level; an additional 12% are non-IT executives (C-level/VP) or line-of-business managers. (R7190713)

Survey Name InformationWeek 2013 Service-Oriented IT Survey

Survey Date July 2013

Region North America

Number of Respondents 409

Purpose To determine adoption of service-oriented IT in the enterprise.

Methodology InformationWeek surveyed business technology decision-makers at North American organizations. The survey was conducted online, and respondents were recruited via an email invitation containing an embedded link to the survey. The email ­invitation was sent to qualified InformationWeek subscribers.